Arcade Legend Sets Joust Tandem Record - With His Son

Steve Sanders, one of the first competitive professional gamers during the 1980s arcade boom, now holds a world record in his best game: Joust. He and his son, Isaiah (pictured), recently set the tandem high score record, with 745,000.

Sanders reached the current world No. 3 (then No. 2) on Joust after coming out of a 20-year-retirement in 2006. He and Isaiah, 17, who is also an avid gamer, took on the world tandem mark at Richie Knucklez Arcade Games in Flemington, New Jersey, on December 11. They beat the previous tandem No. 1 of 600,750, a mark held by Donald Hayes – the world No. 1 in Joust – and Steve Sanders. Twin Galaxies, the world high-score sanctioning authority, has certified the Sanders’ new record.

“He didn’t like us to play video games too much,” Isaiah said of his father, who is now a lawyer. “He feared we’d end up just like him. Of course now, we went to set a world record.”

The two are not done with Joust. They have a goal of a one million team point score and are looking to set it either at another Richie Knucklez event, or at the second annual Big Bang celebrated by the International Video Game Hall of Fame in Ottumwa, Iowa sometime in August.

“There’s nothing like doing something noteworthy as father and son,” Steve said.